Sensex, Nifty open lower amid West Asia tensions, higher crude oil prices

Indian equity benchmarks made a negative start on Friday as oil prices extended their gains following renewed tensions in West Asia. Brent crude climbed above $83 a barrel after fresh geopolitical developments involving Yemen's Houthis and growing concerns over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The BSE Sensex was trading about 0.35% lower in early trade as financial stocks came under selling pressure, with the Bajaj twins - Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv - leading the losses, declining more than 3%.

The Nifty 50 traded marginally lower, after NSE data showed that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to pare their holdings, recording net equity sales of Rs 17.86 crore on August 6, 2026. However, losses remained capped as buying interest in index heavyweights, particularly IT stocks, supported sentiment.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors awaited the US non-farm payrolls report, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision next month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78672.70, down by 282.06 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 78451.99 and 78757.40. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.71%, TECK up by 0.95%, Auto up by 0.72%, FMCG up by 0.51%, Healthcare up by 0.33% while, Bankex down by 0.51%, Telecom down by 0.45%, Basic Materials down by 0.22%, Consumer Durables down by 0.21%, Metal down by 0.17% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 3.00%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.63%, HCL Technologies up by 2.01%, Infosys up by 1.40% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 4.51%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.31%, Trent down by 2.56%, ICICI Bank down by 1.60% and Eternal down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the government's sustained capital expenditure push over the years has encouraged private sector investment, with companies now taking on greater risks to capitalise on India's growth momentum. She said public debt is a necessary tool for governments to manage finances, but stressed that states should borrow only to the extent they can comfortably service the debt, with funds directed towards asset creation instead of passing liabilities on to next generations.

The FY27 Budget has increased capital expenditure to Rs 12.22 lakh crore, up substantially from Rs 3.39 lakh crore in FY20. In the Budget for 2024-25, Sitharaman first announced that FY27 onwards, the government will endeavour to keep the fiscal deficit each year such that the central government debt will be on a declining path as a percentage of GDP. Consequently, in the FY27 Budget, the government estimated the debt-to-GDP ratio for the current fiscal year at 55.6 per cent of GDP, lower than 56.1 per cent of GDP for FY26. The government is looking to cut its debt-to-GDP ratio to 50 per cent by March 2031.

The Centre has set a gross borrowing target of Rs 16.09 lakh crore for FY27, and a net borrowing of Rs 11.73 lakh crore after repaying past loans and borrowing through treasury bills. Sitharaman said many states have come to the Centre with the proposal to restructure their debts and lower their interest burden. She said states will have to be strong and states have to be helped, but laggard states will have to be pulled up.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24610.95, down by 25.05 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 24529.20 and 24620.45. There were 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 3.03%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.88%, HCL Technologies up by 2.40%, ONGC up by 1.44% and Infosys up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 3.94%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.22%, Trent down by 2.57%, Shriram Finance down by 1.36% and JIO Financial Serv. down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 528.26 points or 0.8% to 65,155.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 212.36 points or 0.48% to 44,184.34 and KOSPI dropped 78.65 points or 1.26% to 6,217.73. On the other hand, Hang Seng advanced 60.72 points or 0.24% to 25,591.00, Jakarta Composite gained 50.22 points or 0.79% to 6,393.93, Straits Times rose 46.76 points or 0.82% to 5,685.75 and Shanghai Composite was up by 19.16 points or 0.49% to 3,919.51.